Drug-resistant TB appears in Maldives

The Ministry of Health has said that drug-resistant tuberculosis has appeared in the Maldives, and that this poses new challenges to the efforts to control the disease.

The Health Ministry said this in its report released in relation to the World Tuberculosis Day marked today.

The ministry said that Maldivians’ exposure to TB has increased as a result of this new development.

The condition arises due to failure by patients to complete the full course of the treatment as advised by World Health Organisation, and due to less importance being given to diagnosing the disease.

Health Ministry said that 10,563 people have been registered to receive treatment for TB since 1963, out of which 5,256 people have infected lungs.

The slogan established by WHO for World Tuberculosis Day this year is ‘Stop TB In My Lifetime’.